ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP!!!

I’ve been to many Italian weddings in my life and I have NEVER been served this soup! So how did this name come about? That was the exact conversation my Sister- in- law Jennie and I had on the phone the other day. So I decided to do a tiny bit of research and came up with this… Somewhere along the way, the name Minestra Maritata got mis-translated.The literal translation is “married soup” which in this case, refers to the ingredients, which are a perfect “marriage” of the meat and greens in the soup.

That sounds logical, doesn’t it? If any of you have a little trivia on Italian Wedding Soup, I would love to hear about it. Now on with the recipe!!

First of all I want to say, that there are many, many variations of this soup, I just prefer a little more color, so I add some tomatoes and carrot to mine.

INGREDIENTS

Your favorite Italian meat balls with lots of Romano cheese in them and made tiny, of courseAbout 6 cups of low sodium chicken broth1 onion1 big carrot or 21 cup of orzo pasta2 garlic cloves (crushed)2 cups of kale, escarole, or chard (shredded) more if you want!1 small can of diced tomatoesSalt and pepper

Get your nice heavy soup pan out, then take the garlic, carrot, onion, and saute in a little butter.Next throw in broth and tomatoes.I like my broth clear so I don’t put the uncooked meatballs right in my soup pot just yet. I separately put them in another pan with some extra broth and softly cook them, so this way there is no foam in my soup. When they are mostly cooked through I scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put them right into the big pot! The result is a nice clear broth!After it’s been simmering for a while, I throw in my greens, which in this case was chard, and my 1 cup of orzo.Also, if you have any leftover rinds of Romano or Parm, this would be an excellent time to use them.

Hi Stacey and welcome! I put the dry orzo right in the broth after it’s been simmering for a while and almost done, it cooks fast and you don’t want it to blow up to much. Thanks for visiting!!!

Maryann, thanks, have you ever made this? or anything like it?

Kristen, Thanks for your kind words!!

Lisa, Thanks for your comments! The bowl was a gift from my sister-in-law, and this was the first time I used it! I think the name of the soup is cool now too, after knowing it means the “marriage” of the ingredients. Thanks again fo visiting!!

Oh yes, Marie, I do make this. Sometimes, it’s just meatball and escarole in a chicken broth and sometimes, for special, we put everything in it, just like you did! As Lisa said, that bowl is so pretty and your photos are really nice too

Today it is -2 Celcius so this soup would be perfect for a cozy stay in. I often wondered it this soup had been served at weddings in the past, but a marriage of flavours sounds reasonable. Thanks for straightening me out!

Hello and Welcome!

I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {Read More About Me}